Builds 1978 BJ40 buildup broadcast... (1 Viewer)

Alright kids, here it is….

I want to put this out first off and make sure everyone is clear about this post. This is a 1978 BJ40 out of Canada with a B series engine. I understand it’s not a FJ but I believe my rebuild will apply more to FJ Section and reach more people who might be rebuilding FJs or BJs alike. If the moderators would like me to move it to the Diesel Page I would be more than happy to and DID feel a little obligation to, but I think it will be better served in this Section. This will hopefully help me as I know I will have some questions and looking for thoughts from others. By no means am I a genius.

I am the third owner of this Cruiser and have the original Maintenance Guide signed by the original owner back in 1978 along with the Owners Manual. I plan to post a picture of these as well. The second owner used it for pulling trees out of the woods for the past few years. (Kind of scary) The odometer reads 20950km so assuming it’s rolled maybe once it has approximately 75000mi.

My Goal is to rebuild this 1978 BJ40. I want a clean looking cruiser that has been rebuilt “by me.” (Meaning, me and the enlisted help of a few friends and brothers) I have just gotten back stateside so I am trying to hit this hard this first week (in Minnesota) before I move it back down to Georgia where I will be living.

Pics

First Day

Yesterday we moved it out of a hangar where it was stored so that I could start working on it the following day. We used my truck and a 16ft trailer. Using an electric winch we pulled it onto the trailer.

For the first day, I only spent about 2 maybe 3 hours but was able to accomplish a few things. First I wanted to determine whether or not I was going to be able to use the Saginaw system on this Cruiser. Anybody with a BJ will know that there isn’t much room in the engine compartment. So I will be ordering a bracket from JT Outfitters and use a Toyo mini truck sector. It’s as simple as that. (I think you could have gotten a Saginaw in there but it would be a major undertaking)

We took the fenders off and side aprons. That went well enough, only having to cut one bolt. Not bad for the rusty vehicles up north. The front bib came off as well.

Something interesting we found on this cruiser was a tank heater. ( I am not familiar with these and not sure if its an aftermarket or stock option for the cruiser at the time of production) Also there was ‘window blind’ on the radiator. It looks stock? I don’t know, maybe one of you guys out there will know? Looks neat though haha

We disassembled the radiator with reservoir, the air cleaner, the washer fluid tank and disconnected brake and clutch fluid lines. Overall a nice start to the project and not bad for a couple hours of work.

more...

Pics of the Manuals...dash...and radiator

Havent seen that 'window blind' before...anyone else?

Day 2...

Today went well. After getting a late start due to changing the battery in my truck. (Southern batteries don’t crank well up north in the COLD)
My goal was to get the tub off the frame and possibly pull the engine. With the help of my brother we got that and more done.

We disconnected all the wiring harnesses (and those created by previous owners-grrr). The fuel line was disconnected under the tub prior to the metal line. The odometer cable was disconnected at the transfer case while it was easier to pull the cable out of the tub for the e-brake. My Scandinavian ancestors left me with hands much larger than required for that operation but we got it off. Throttle cable came off too. Battery supports (boy those are overbuilt)…skid plate…drive shafts…and 12 body mounts all came off. Then we used a skid-steer and some 2 inch ratchet straps to pull the tub off. Looks crazy but it worked. Tubs off…

After disconnecting a few other lines and wires for the engine we pulled that using the skid-steer and a chain off the lifting points on the engine. That along with transmission and transfer case all came with for a smooth pull. We set that on a pallet for future work. (Lots of it too) I now NEED engine mounts yesterday. They looked like they were going to work until they were pulled and completely fell apart. Anybody with motor mounts for a B engine?

Pulling the shackles, shocks and lifting the frame allowed us to remove the axels, front and back. We left the steering linkage on all the ‘chub’.

This took us into the evening when the blizzard started but we were able to grind off the steering pedestal for the JT bracket that I still need order…

The previous owner cobbled up some hitch that had to be cut off with the acetylene torch and we used that to bend the rear bumper straight. This was about it for the day…little more than I had anticipated. Hopefully if this storm isn’t still going we will sandblast the frame and prep for paint. (going with epoxy primer and single stage polyurethane) Might run and get my other axels off my other rig as well. See what happens I guess…..more to follow.

last few....

last few pics for tonite...show the end product of todays work though so....

That red one in the back ground looks interesting


BJ

I wouldn't assume the odometer has only rolled once .I have seen many bj40's and bj42's up here and they are usually reading well into the 400,000km range and still drive surprisingly well . Do you know the history or the PO . Looks like alot of fun at any rate good luck. Keep the pics coming.

haha yeah that red one is my buddies plow truck...it was a FJ that was completely rotted out and he built it up for the only purpose of plowing snow in the winter...

Only history I know is that it had one owner up until early 90s where it was sold as part of an estate...it had sat for a few years supposedly. when the loggers bought it and started pulling trees out of the woods...the frame looks great though...i would like to find out more about it though...just gotta ask the right people...

Been begging Matt for this thread for a little while now. Glad to see it gome around!

Where and when are you moving to in GA? I live in SC, dont worry weather here is still warm

I'm curious about something and maybe some of the Canadian Diesel guys could answer this.....

Where would one purchase motor mounts for a 78 BJ40 very, very quickly???

Yeah its been a little fast and furious the past few days...gotta visit with the family too. FInally got the thread going though.

I will be living in Savannah, GA. It was warm when I left. To the tune of 70s...too warm for me. Haha I will take the cold.

I'd expect CDan to be able to get the motor mounts for you. Spector might even have them in stock if ya gotta have'm faster than Dan can get them.

The radiator blind is stock BTW...

Looks like a pretty nice rig to start with.

Nick

HeavyLift said:

Yeah its been a little fast and furious the past few days...gotta visit with the family too. FInally got the thread going though.

I will be living in Savannah, GA. It was warm when I left. To the tune of 70s...too warm for me. Haha I will take the cold.

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Yeah it was in the high 60's here last week. R U bringing the cruiser with you down here? If so I will be in the area in the fall and would love to come see it!

89s- Yes its taking the drive back with me and should be ready for show and tell...

ZebrabeeFJ40- I will talk to Matt more about the motor mounts...really need to get a set before I take this rig to GA

That snow would kill me! You guys are nuts for working in that stuff.

Looking great. I am looking forward to your progress.

Dave

nice going travis! looks like you've got your work cut out for ya but at least you have some great help. i'll be watching this buildup for sure!

HeavyLift said:

I understand it’s not a FJ but I believe my rebuild will apply more to FJ Section and reach more people who might be rebuilding FJs or BJs alike. If the moderators would like me to move it to the Diesel Page I would be more than happy to and DID feel a little obligation to, but I think it will be better served in this Section.

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Yep, except for the engine and electrical stuff, and some other stuff...

HeavyLift said:

Anybody with a BJ will know that there isn’t much room in the engine compartment.

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Besides the 2 batteries, an inline 4 cyl. diesel without a dizzy or all the smog crap has more room... I got more room in my BJ42 than in my old FJ60. But I'm not familiar with the Saginaw conversion as I have factory PS

HeavyLift said:

The second owner used it for pulling trees out of the woods for the past few years. (Kind of scary)

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Scary, why? Like this?

https://forum.ih8mud.com/showthread.php?t=72533

HeavyLift said:

The odometer reads 20950km so assuming it’s rolled maybe once it has approximately 75000mi.

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too tall said:

I wouldn't assume the odometer has only rolled once .I have seen many bj40's and bj42's up here and they are usually reading well into the 400,000km range and still drive surprisingly well .

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Yes, over 400k kms here, but with an engine rebuild and a US odometer in miles (268k mi).

buckroseau said:

I'm curious about something and maybe some of the Canadian Diesel guys could answer this.....

Where would one purchase motor mounts for a 78 BJ40 very, very quickly???

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Might try www.4wheelauto.com out of Calgary. They shipped fast down to Cali for the one order I did.

HeavyLift said:

Havent seen that 'window blind' before...anyone else?

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I got one. I think it's a Canuck diesel exclusive. I have gone to a 82 degree t-stat for summers, and find that I have to use the shade a little in the winter to get the right result. Kinda like a mini-semi...

Awesome--look forward to the build. So you drove this before tearing down? How was the power in that B engine?.......

B

Welcome back Heavy

That is some sweet progress, and I'd love to be up there freezing my balls off with ya!

So why wouldn't you be able to go saginaw again? The box goes in the front winch area ahead of the radiator. Or are you just talking about not having room for a pump? That blind thing looks pretty freakin cool, so is it stock, anyone?

You're haulin through this, look forward to the rest of the buildup. Remember that tearing it all apart is the easy part.

HawkDriver said:

That blind thing looks pretty freakin cool, so is it stock, anyone?

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Post #13.





Looks like fun man....you are in good hands.


Engine mounts FAST....SOR.



Good luck!


-Steve